DON’T LEAVE THE LEAVES ON YOUR LAWN

by Drix, Wednesday, November 9, 2016 5:54 PM

The other day I was out doing estimates, when I drove by a house where one of our competitors was doing an application. I was kind of shocked to see this applicator spraying right over the top of a heavily leaf-covered lawn. In my experience, applying fertilizer over a leaf covered lawn is of very little benefit to said lawn.

It got me thinking; in my 20 plus years working for Tuff Turf, blowing leaves off the lawn has always been part of the job. Sure, it takes a lot of extra time and effort, but it is just another example of our willingness to do the job right. Superior service for every customer, every time.

The problem, is we are only on your lawn every six to eight weeks and those darn leaves are falling every day. We all know you can clean them all up, and the next day you can’t even tell.

But make no mistake, it is vitally important to keep after those rascally little lawn smothers’.

Leaves left on the lawn probably cause more damage than disease and insects combined. They accumulate and, left on the turf for an extended length of time, start smothering the grass, especially as they become rain-soaked and heavy.

Now, having a few leaves on the lawn during an application is fine. Your tech will make the decision whether or not blowing them off is necessary when he gets there. And you don’t have to have every leaf off the lawn every day to avoid damage. Generally speaking, cleaning up the leaves once a week or so is perfectly fine.

So, get out there, blower or rake in hand (I prefer the blower myself). Get the leaves off and keep ‘em off. It pays off in a much healthier, fuller turf that is naturally more resistant to moss, invasive grasses and weeds.